# Why are we aesthetically pleased by flowers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014 "2018-08-22T00:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/21 "2018-08-22T08:36:30Z")
In addition to some of the above, I think flowers’ fragility trigger our protective instincts. Here’s something pretty we have to be careful with or we’ll destroy it - which makes it feel even more valuable and attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/22 "2018-08-22T08:48:42Z")
We have a similar reaction to butterflies, including wearing prints of them, and they have no use to us at all, some even actively damage our food. They have bright colours, symmetry if that matters and as a cultural extra, in temperate climes at least, they’re only present in spring and summer, so can function as a symbol of good weather or good weather to come. I don’t think it needs more explanation that that. We hardly find all flowers attractive anyway; many are tiny and barely noticeable, some are frankly ugly, some even have the texture and scent of rotting flesh. The boring unattractive ones just don’t get attention. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/23 "2018-08-22T08:59:07Z")
I felt sure that there would have been some scientific studies of this ‘phenomenon’. Here is one I found. (I removed the extensive references for easier reading) > [@](#): > > There is no doubt that people find flowers beautiful. Surprisingly, we know very little about the actual properties which make flowers so appealing to humans. Although the evolutionary aesthetics provides some theories concerning generally preferred flower traits, empirical evidence is largely missing. > [@](#): > > Many authors have suggested that humans tend to aesthetically appreciate objects that are quickly recognizable and fluently processed by their brains. The presence of such objects assures easy orientation in the environment and rapid evaluation of its potential threats and benefits. Human attraction to these environments should be highly adaptive. Objects that are fluently processed tend to be symmetrical, prototypical, and moderately complex. Empirical research has confirmed that people prefer prototypical objects and animals. > **[What flowers do we like? The influence of shape and color on the rating of...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906640/)** > > There is no doubt that people find flowers beautiful. Surprisingly, we know very little about the actual properties which make flowers so appealing to humans. Although the evolutionary aesthetics provides some theories concerning generally preferred... ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/24 "2018-08-22T09:14:54Z")
_Most_ flowers are _not_ aesthetically appealing - all the wind-pollinated ones. We find flowers aestetically appealing when they’re showy, and the things that are appealing - symmetry (we’re wired to find symmetry attractive), colour and scent - are not for our benefit. But the flowers we find most appealing - the ones we grow , show off, paint , photograph and replicate in fabrics and paintings - generally are ones we made that way - roses, sunflowers, irises, etc. So they’re pretty _because we made them pretty._ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/25 "2018-08-22T09:55:31Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Most_ flowers are _not_ aesthetically appealing - all the wind-pollinated ones. We find flowers aestetically appealing when they’re showy, and the things that are appealing - symmetry (we’re wired to find symmetry attractive), colour and scent - are not for our benefit. But the flowers we find most appealing - the ones we grow , show off, paint , photograph and replicate in fabrics and paintings - generally are ones we made that way - roses, sunflowers, irises, etc. So they’re pretty _because we made them pretty._ It’s certainly true that we have cultivated plants to produce more, and more showy flowers, but we’re only accentuating something that we already appreciated previously in its natural form in the first place - and besides, there are plenty of wild flowers that are quite pretty or showy in their natural, un-altered state. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/26 "2018-08-22T11:42:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > there are plenty of wild flowers that are quite pretty or showy in their natural, un-altered state. True enough - and for those, the aforementioned built-in human attraction to symmetry and bright colours is explanation enough. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/27 "2018-08-22T18:31:10Z")
I’m _ **not** _ aesthetically pleased by flowers - or sunsets or majestic mountains either, for that matter. Absolutely nothing in nature appeals to me, and precious little art does. Honestly, the only things I think look inherently appealing are women. So if I had to guess about why all you weirdos like them, I’d say the OP’s reason 3 is probably it. Flowers, more than other things in nature, are directly related to potentially edible plants. All plants that produce fruit have flowers. So the monkey brain associated flowers with good, and most people listen to their monkey brain. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/28 "2018-08-22T23:09:54Z")
The ripe fruit comes weeks or months after the flowers–seems too long to be selectively advantageous to making monkeys like them. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/29 "2018-08-22T23:21:59Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The ripe fruit comes weeks or months after the flowers–seems too long to be selectively advantageous to making monkeys like them. You’d learn to like the plants that flower though. Well, some of them. I’d be willing to concede that it could just be that monkeys like bright colors - I know that when I see a picture of lava I want to jump right in. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/30 "2018-08-23T06:48:43Z")
If anything though, I would say there is a slight inverse correlation between showy flowers and edible fruit - plants have one or the other (or neither), but seldom both. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/31 "2018-08-23T13:44:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If anything though, I would say there is a slight inverse correlation between showy flowers and edible fruit - plants have one or the other (or neither), but seldom both. An exception that comes to mind is edible squash - which often has eminently [edible flowers](https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/harvesting-squash-flowers.htm). It’s been a long-term advantage for plants with attractive flowers to be utilized/cultivated/preserved by humans, whether or not anything “deliberate” evolutionarily speaking occurred in plants’ reproduction to make that happen. I’d also note that far from being delicate little things that appeal to our protectiveness, lots of plants with spectacular flowers are extremely tough and difficult to eradicate even with our best efforts (giant hogweed which is “immune to our herbicidal batterings”, an overstatement to be sure, while some species of yucca seemingly can resist nuclear holocaust). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/32 "2018-08-23T15:47:14Z")
There is a human tendency to want to find deliberate reasons for behavior and phenomena, and that is in full evidence here with the speculation that flowering plants evolved such colors and elaborate shapes to attract or please humans, but in fact the vast majority of wildflowers and other flowering plants evolved long before and far away from humans. Even those that evolved adjacent to humans and their predecessors are not dependent upon people to propagate; their attractive features (color and odor) are evolved to attract pollinators and propagates or ward off predators. So any rationale for why people find flowers attractive that is based upon some ontological benefit to plants is unlikely at best and probably completely wrong. So why do (most) people like flowers? Aesthetically they are visually stimulating and symmetric in ways that few other things in nature are, with often intricate coloration and patterning structure. For reasons that are not fully understood symmetry and visual balance are very pleasing to human brains in ways that other mammals don’t really seem to care about, so it would seem to be coincidental that the radial or sometimes bilateral symmetry of flowers is an apppealing features. Of course, this also advantages certain types of flowers that have become cultivars (artificially selected species of flowers) and that we have spread around the world. In short, they are nature’s abstract art, and why we don’t really understand why the human mind likes symbolic art, it most certainly does. Other than that, flowers have a few utilitarian purposes; they indicate the presence of water; herald the return of the spring growing season; in fruit-bearing trees and stalked plants are an indication of maturity and edible fruit and seed bearing; they attract honeybees and their natural preservable sugar collection; and can provide valuable micronutrients and natural medicinal substances, or in the case of invaginated flowers can actually turn into fruits in the _Malus_, _Musa_, _Citrus_, _Ficus_, _Phoenix_, and other genera. However, the flowers we like the most, like those of family _Orchidaceae_ and non-fruit-bearing members of family _Rosaceae_ are those with the least functional use, so I’m dubious in the strictly utilitarian rationale for the development of human aesthetic appeal of flowers. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/33 "2018-08-24T05:54:03Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > and most people listen to their monkey brain. Especially the part about how sex is so vitally important that the government should provide it free to the public. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/34 "2018-08-24T12:33:11Z")
I think it’s not all that different from finding the sound of gurgling stream pleasant. “Hey, there’s some fresh water over there!” So, as noted, flowers = a healthy area of greenery. Not just for fruits and such, but also for game eating the greenery. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/35 "2018-08-24T13:34:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Most_ flowers are _not_ aesthetically appealing - all the wind-pollinated ones. We find flowers aestetically appealing when they’re showy, and the things that are appealing - symmetry (we’re wired to find symmetry attractive), colour and scent - are not for our benefit. But the flowers we find most appealing - the ones we grow , show off, paint , photograph and replicate in fabrics and paintings - generally are ones we made that way - roses, sunflowers, irises, etc. So they’re pretty _because we made them pretty._ > [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s certainly true that we have cultivated plants to produce more, and more showy flowers, but we’re only accentuating something that we already appreciated previously in its natural form in the first place - and besides, there are plenty of wild flowers that are quite pretty or showy in their natural, un-altered state. I agree with this. Flowers, even wild ones, don’t just happen. They exist in an environment dominated by humans. Domestic flowers are obviously being bred to have the traits humans find appealing. And even species of wild flowers are going to do better if they have evolved traits which humans like. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/36 "2018-08-24T17:22:06Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Especially the part about how sex is so vitally important that the government should provide it free to the public. Um, what? I’ve just decided that you’re definitely staying in topic (why wouldn’t you be?) so apparently the government wants us to have sex with flowers now. Admittedly they _are_ sex organs, but honestly I didn’t think their fiddly bits worked with human fiddly bits. Hey, now maybe that’s it. Perhaps (most) humans like looking at flowers because they’re exposed sex organs and that’s so so salacious. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/37 "2018-08-24T17:23:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree with this. Flowers, even wild ones, don’t just happen. They exist in an environment dominated by humans. Domestic flowers are obviously being bred to have the traits humans find appealing. And even species of wild flowers are going to do better if they have evolved traits which humans like. I thought flowers catered to _bees_. Last I checked, humans weren’t bees. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/38 "2018-08-25T23:25:38Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > That’s silly. You can’t eat flowers. The whole concept of luxury showing status is that you can afford to buy things that aren’t necessities. The higher the perceived value, the higher the status. But I just think it’s the color and contrast. Bright and shiny things are attractive to most species. Sure, there can be some selection, both artificial and natural, based on humans, since we’re the species who will plant flowers. But the bare example is just being bright and shiny. Shiny is conjectured to be because water is shiny. Bright is conjectured to be because it separates fruits from greenery. Flowers don’t need to actually be good to eat to benefit from the adaptations for foods that are. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/39 "2018-08-25T23:34:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Most_ flowers are _not_ aesthetically appealing - all the wind-pollinated ones. We find flowers aestetically appealing when they’re showy, and the things that are appealing - symmetry (we’re wired to find symmetry attractive), colour and scent - are not for our benefit. But the flowers we find most appealing - the ones we grow , show off, paint , photograph and replicate in fabrics and paintings - generally are ones we made that way - roses, sunflowers, irises, etc. So they’re pretty _because we made them pretty._ Uncle Monty: > [@](#): > > I think the carrot infinitely more fascinating than the geranium. The carrot has mystery. Flowers are essentially tarts. Prostitutes for the bees. There is a certain _je ne sais quo_i - oh, so very special - about a firm, young carrot. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014/40 "2018-08-26T02:56:48Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I thought flowers catered to _bees_. Last I checked, humans weren’t bees. Have you ever seen a bee planting a garden? Humans have a much bigger say in what flowers grow than bees do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-aesthetically-pleased-by-flowers/820014.md?page=1)